Agenda-
Homeroom
Class: Creative Writing
Class: Pre-AP Sophomore English
Class: AP Senior English
Lunch
Study Hall
Creative writing was wonderful as always. The kids were a little bit wild. It was hard to keep them on the subject at hand but they are always really good at returning to it when asked. We edited the last two quest stories today and then we talked about what we are going to do for our final battle. Lifa’s commander is going to be the big bad guy. It is going to be an awesome story and I am wicked excited to get writing it I can tell that the students are excited too. After we talked about everything in class they had time to start working on the background leading up to everyone meeting in Atlia to take on the bad guy. They were working away at it as usual. And making jokes. We have a lot of fun in that class.
The sophomores got a little time at the beginning of class to put the finishing touches on the scrapbooks before handing them in. Then I asked them to share their favorite pieces. Next, I had them do a little feedback for me. I asked them to write about their strongest piece and why they think it is their strongest, their weakest piece and they think it is their weakest pieces, and then I asked them to write down what they thought of the project. Was it fun? Was it hard? Was it a lot of work? What would you do differently if you did it again? What should I do differently if I do it again? They gave me a lot of grief verbally about the fact that the other class had the weekend to do their project. It is interesting that they are complaining now because when I asked them if class time in exchange for a weekend was fair they said yes. Apparently because I wasn’t there on Wednesday it wasn’t fair. I eventually told them that enough was enough and that we had discussed it and I didn’t want to hear any more about it. They are so very whiny. The biggest loudest complainer was Chandler who in her feedback to me said she procrastinated. So… how would having the weekend have helped?
The seniors were much better about their projects. They took some time to get their stuff together, handed the projects in, listened to their poem, talked about Aurora Leigh, and did test prep without any complaints. They are awesome. I like that I don’t get any whining from them. They were even appreciative of their song as a poem today. They liked watching the music video. I’m looking forward to reading their poetry portfolios. They were a little tired today. I think that though is just because it is Friday, they had a big project due today, and it was a nice day out. They would have rather been outside.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Day 61: Procrastinate Much?
Agenda-
Homeroom
Class: Pre-AP Sophomore English
Free Period
Class: AP Senior English
Lunch
Free Period
The sophomores today had even more questions about their scrapbook. I can tell that a lot of them are very stressed about the project. I tried to set their minds at ease by saying that they have already done a lot of it by doing the passage reflections. They still seem to feel that they don’t have a lot of time. Many of the students were showing me and telling me about their genres. They came up with some ideas that I had never even considered. I am very excited to grade their scrapbooks. They are doing word searches, crosswords, charts, poems, pictures, and diary entries. I never thought of any of that. I can’t wait to see how it turns out.
The seniors did not do a lot of work over break. There were a couple additional students who had done the reading and the essential question but not all of them. Many of the students need to make up a lot of work. I should have checked their essential question answers as we went. I didn’t think I would have to if they knew they would be a part of the portfolio at the end. Apparently, that just means they can put it off. Lesson learned. Seniors are not any more mature than sophomores. Next time I will at least check them and give them a grade for doing them. I am happy that most of the students who don’t do the work at least try to contribute to class discussions in some way. Heidi and Hannson always talk, even if they don’t always do the work. Kym and Shane don’t necessarily. They have at least done some of it though. I’m really worried about Hannson. He still hasn’t done anything.
Homeroom
Class: Pre-AP Sophomore English
Free Period
Class: AP Senior English
Lunch
Free Period
The sophomores today had even more questions about their scrapbook. I can tell that a lot of them are very stressed about the project. I tried to set their minds at ease by saying that they have already done a lot of it by doing the passage reflections. They still seem to feel that they don’t have a lot of time. Many of the students were showing me and telling me about their genres. They came up with some ideas that I had never even considered. I am very excited to grade their scrapbooks. They are doing word searches, crosswords, charts, poems, pictures, and diary entries. I never thought of any of that. I can’t wait to see how it turns out.
The seniors did not do a lot of work over break. There were a couple additional students who had done the reading and the essential question but not all of them. Many of the students need to make up a lot of work. I should have checked their essential question answers as we went. I didn’t think I would have to if they knew they would be a part of the portfolio at the end. Apparently, that just means they can put it off. Lesson learned. Seniors are not any more mature than sophomores. Next time I will at least check them and give them a grade for doing them. I am happy that most of the students who don’t do the work at least try to contribute to class discussions in some way. Heidi and Hannson always talk, even if they don’t always do the work. Kym and Shane don’t necessarily. They have at least done some of it though. I’m really worried about Hannson. He still hasn’t done anything.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Education Job Fair
I attended the Education Job Fair on campus and thus was not able to be at school. No reflection for today.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Day 60: Looming Deadlines
Agenda-
Homeroom
Class: Pre-AP Sophomore English
Free Period
Class: AP Senior English
Lunch
Free Period
The sophomores were extremely worried about their scrapbooks today. I had a hard time keeping them discussing the book. In the end though, we did have a good discussion on the book and then I gave them their last Victim Cards. They were pretty excited to find out what happened. After the discussion and the cards they were given some time to work on their scrapbooks. They were much more productive today than they were last week. I saw everyone working. They still had a lot of questions on the scrapbook and I answered them as best as I could.
seniors did not do a lot of work over break. There were a couple additional students who had done the reading and the essential question but not all of them. There was more conversation about the book today. I was happy to see that. There was also more conversation about the poetry portfolio. I can tell that with the deadline looming in front of them they are all looking at it a little bit more seriously. I talked to this group more about the Wordsworth excerpt they read. They described it as very long. Someone even said that only a poet could take that long defining poetry. They seemed to have gotten something out of it at least. Cam read something from the packet. What he read was something that I had underlined, but at least he had taken the time to remember it and think that it was something he wanted to talk about in class. I think that this class at least will have quite a bit of success in a college English class. They seem able to talk about literature even if half of what they say is bs. Sometimes you need to be able to do that.
Homeroom
Class: Pre-AP Sophomore English
Free Period
Class: AP Senior English
Lunch
Free Period
The sophomores were extremely worried about their scrapbooks today. I had a hard time keeping them discussing the book. In the end though, we did have a good discussion on the book and then I gave them their last Victim Cards. They were pretty excited to find out what happened. After the discussion and the cards they were given some time to work on their scrapbooks. They were much more productive today than they were last week. I saw everyone working. They still had a lot of questions on the scrapbook and I answered them as best as I could.
seniors did not do a lot of work over break. There were a couple additional students who had done the reading and the essential question but not all of them. There was more conversation about the book today. I was happy to see that. There was also more conversation about the poetry portfolio. I can tell that with the deadline looming in front of them they are all looking at it a little bit more seriously. I talked to this group more about the Wordsworth excerpt they read. They described it as very long. Someone even said that only a poet could take that long defining poetry. They seemed to have gotten something out of it at least. Cam read something from the packet. What he read was something that I had underlined, but at least he had taken the time to remember it and think that it was something he wanted to talk about in class. I think that this class at least will have quite a bit of success in a college English class. They seem able to talk about literature even if half of what they say is bs. Sometimes you need to be able to do that.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Day 59: In Class Work
Agenda-
Homeroom
Class: Creative Writing
Class: Pre-AP Sophomore English
Class: AP Senior English
Lunch
Study Hall
Creative writing went pretty well. They had to read two of the quest stories over break, write comments on the stories, read an outside book, and write a comparison of the dialogue in their book to the group quest story they wrote. They didn’t have a lot of advice for Meg, Mariah, and I on our story. Most people said they liked it and that it was funny. There was one question about one line in the story. My thought though is that if they are going to be that picky then the story must be pretty good. The other story was written by Loryn and Myrranda. I thought the class did a very nice job explaining exactly what it was that they thought needed to be worked on. The class said that they liked the characters, the plot, and where the story was heading but they needed more. They wanted the girls to elaborate and then they gave specific examples. I think they are right. Everything to make a story is already there it just needs to be fleshed out a lot more. If Loryn and Myrranda did that they would have a solid story. After we talked about editing I gave them time to read the next stories and to work with their group on editing. I thought it would give the two girls time to maybe implement their classmates’ advice.
The sophomores were exhausted today. They did not want to do anything. They kept asking if they could work on their scrapbooks. I told them that if there was time at the end of the class they could work on them. I wanted to talk about Night and give out their last Victim Card. They whipped through Night. They even stole my discussion idea. Almost every group wanted to talk about the same thing I wanted to talk about. I couldn’t very well make them do it again. So I gave out the cards and they spent time working on their scrapbooks. Many students went to the hallway. The ones that did stay in the room were very quiet and very diligent. They just sat there and worked on their projects only speaking when they had a question for me. I was impressed by their behavior.
The seniors were also tired. However, they did a much better job sustaining a discussion about Aurora Leigh. We talked for most of the class about the book and about the Victorian time period, specifically the Victorian view point of sex. I had to explain this to them because of the mention of Marian getting thrown out by an upper class woman who had hired her as seamstress. I wanted them to understand why she did this as well as see the irony in the situation. After they were done with the discussion I gave them time to work on their final projects too. Both the poetry portfolio and the scrapbooks will be due this coming Friday so many of the students are freaking out a little.
Homeroom
Class: Creative Writing
Class: Pre-AP Sophomore English
Class: AP Senior English
Lunch
Study Hall
Creative writing went pretty well. They had to read two of the quest stories over break, write comments on the stories, read an outside book, and write a comparison of the dialogue in their book to the group quest story they wrote. They didn’t have a lot of advice for Meg, Mariah, and I on our story. Most people said they liked it and that it was funny. There was one question about one line in the story. My thought though is that if they are going to be that picky then the story must be pretty good. The other story was written by Loryn and Myrranda. I thought the class did a very nice job explaining exactly what it was that they thought needed to be worked on. The class said that they liked the characters, the plot, and where the story was heading but they needed more. They wanted the girls to elaborate and then they gave specific examples. I think they are right. Everything to make a story is already there it just needs to be fleshed out a lot more. If Loryn and Myrranda did that they would have a solid story. After we talked about editing I gave them time to read the next stories and to work with their group on editing. I thought it would give the two girls time to maybe implement their classmates’ advice.
The sophomores were exhausted today. They did not want to do anything. They kept asking if they could work on their scrapbooks. I told them that if there was time at the end of the class they could work on them. I wanted to talk about Night and give out their last Victim Card. They whipped through Night. They even stole my discussion idea. Almost every group wanted to talk about the same thing I wanted to talk about. I couldn’t very well make them do it again. So I gave out the cards and they spent time working on their scrapbooks. Many students went to the hallway. The ones that did stay in the room were very quiet and very diligent. They just sat there and worked on their projects only speaking when they had a question for me. I was impressed by their behavior.
The seniors were also tired. However, they did a much better job sustaining a discussion about Aurora Leigh. We talked for most of the class about the book and about the Victorian time period, specifically the Victorian view point of sex. I had to explain this to them because of the mention of Marian getting thrown out by an upper class woman who had hired her as seamstress. I wanted them to understand why she did this as well as see the irony in the situation. After they were done with the discussion I gave them time to work on their final projects too. Both the poetry portfolio and the scrapbooks will be due this coming Friday so many of the students are freaking out a little.
Friday, April 15, 2011
Day 58: Unproductive Day
Agenda:
Homeroom
Class: Pre-AP Sophomore English
Free Period
Class: AP Senior English
Lunch
Free Period
The sophomores were not terribly productive today. We discussed Night and then I gave out their Holocaust Victim Cards. We went over the rubric for the Holocaust Victim Memorial Wall. They didn’t have any questions on it. So, either the rubric and my instructions are very good or they were just tired. I think it was because it is the day before vacation. They weren’t as with it as they usually are. I could tell when I gave them time to take notes on their cards and do work on their scrapbooks that their hearts weren’t in it. They were up and about talking to their friends and just really not on task. Some of them were working and those students were able to ask me questions and that was good. If I was them I probably wouldn’t be doing work either so I can’t really blame them.
The seniors were the same way. They talked about Aurora Leigh but when I set them loose to edit poetry for their portfolio I knew they just weren’t into it. They were watching videos, cracking jokes, and browsing the web. At that point I knew that they weren’t here either. They were already day dreaming about vacation. I kind of wish I had come up with a game or something to do with both classes. Something fun but still semi-productive so that they would at least be on task. Vacation clearly makes everyone crazy.
Homeroom
Class: Pre-AP Sophomore English
Free Period
Class: AP Senior English
Lunch
Free Period
The sophomores were not terribly productive today. We discussed Night and then I gave out their Holocaust Victim Cards. We went over the rubric for the Holocaust Victim Memorial Wall. They didn’t have any questions on it. So, either the rubric and my instructions are very good or they were just tired. I think it was because it is the day before vacation. They weren’t as with it as they usually are. I could tell when I gave them time to take notes on their cards and do work on their scrapbooks that their hearts weren’t in it. They were up and about talking to their friends and just really not on task. Some of them were working and those students were able to ask me questions and that was good. If I was them I probably wouldn’t be doing work either so I can’t really blame them.
The seniors were the same way. They talked about Aurora Leigh but when I set them loose to edit poetry for their portfolio I knew they just weren’t into it. They were watching videos, cracking jokes, and browsing the web. At that point I knew that they weren’t here either. They were already day dreaming about vacation. I kind of wish I had come up with a game or something to do with both classes. Something fun but still semi-productive so that they would at least be on task. Vacation clearly makes everyone crazy.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Day 57: Productive Day
Agenda-
Homeroom
Class: Creative Writing
Class: Pre-AP Sophomore English
Class: AP Senior English
Lunch
Study Hall
The creative writing students did their final edits on their stories today and posted them. Meg and I gave them their assignment for over break. After they finished editing and got everything posted they were allowed to work on their vacation assignments. I am very excited to read all of the stories and to see what the class had to say about our story.
The sophomores whined about having to pick random seats again. I am hoping that after I make them do it a few hundred times they will get over it. We talked about the memorial I am having them create for their Holocaust Victims. I had a talk with Meg over this project and she said they wouldn’t do the assignment unless it was graded. So today I handed out a rubric for it and we went over it. I am really excited for the wall. I can’t wait to see what they come up with to memorialize their victim. I also took more questions on the scrapbook assignment that they will have due on the 29th. I explained to them that I would give them class time to work on it. We discussed Night and I handed out their 3rd piece of their Holocaust Victim Cards. I live handing these out. The students seem to be getting into it. They get excited to learn what is going to happen next. I can tell the suspense is killing some of them. I like this activity. It gives them a direct connection to the Holocaust.
The seniors wanted to talk about Aurora Leigh a lot today. I had let them pick their own question for this assignment. I wasn’t surprised by how many of the girls wanted to discuss the possibility that Aurora may have feelings for Romney or vice versa. They did a good job finding evidence that answered this question. A few people branched out and asked other questions. Lynsey did a comparison of Aurora Leigh to Sold. She did a good job comparing the plot lines and how the characters handled the traumatic events in each story. After our discussion they got out their poems and I worked with them on editing them. They are coming along really well with this. I have no worries for this class on their project.
Homeroom
Class: Creative Writing
Class: Pre-AP Sophomore English
Class: AP Senior English
Lunch
Study Hall
The creative writing students did their final edits on their stories today and posted them. Meg and I gave them their assignment for over break. After they finished editing and got everything posted they were allowed to work on their vacation assignments. I am very excited to read all of the stories and to see what the class had to say about our story.
The sophomores whined about having to pick random seats again. I am hoping that after I make them do it a few hundred times they will get over it. We talked about the memorial I am having them create for their Holocaust Victims. I had a talk with Meg over this project and she said they wouldn’t do the assignment unless it was graded. So today I handed out a rubric for it and we went over it. I am really excited for the wall. I can’t wait to see what they come up with to memorialize their victim. I also took more questions on the scrapbook assignment that they will have due on the 29th. I explained to them that I would give them class time to work on it. We discussed Night and I handed out their 3rd piece of their Holocaust Victim Cards. I live handing these out. The students seem to be getting into it. They get excited to learn what is going to happen next. I can tell the suspense is killing some of them. I like this activity. It gives them a direct connection to the Holocaust.
The seniors wanted to talk about Aurora Leigh a lot today. I had let them pick their own question for this assignment. I wasn’t surprised by how many of the girls wanted to discuss the possibility that Aurora may have feelings for Romney or vice versa. They did a good job finding evidence that answered this question. A few people branched out and asked other questions. Lynsey did a comparison of Aurora Leigh to Sold. She did a good job comparing the plot lines and how the characters handled the traumatic events in each story. After our discussion they got out their poems and I worked with them on editing them. They are coming along really well with this. I have no worries for this class on their project.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Day 56: Senioritis
Agenda-
Meeting
Class: Pre-AP Sophomore English
Free Period
Class: AP Senior English
Lunch
Free Period
Homeroom
The sophomores were not overly impressed when they realized they would be picking new seats every day. However, they handled the change well. We saw presentations and talked about Night. This class always has really good discussions.
The seniors talked about Aurora Leigh and I again got on the case of the students who hadn’t done any of the work. I went over meter with this group of seniors. They were a little overawed with how much work the meter poem was going to be. I told them about the deal. I will be interested to see if any of them take me up on the offer with the sonnet. Shawna might. She seems like she is a pretty good poet and I could see her wanting to stretch herself that little bit to try something new. I am really glad I decided to include the meter poem. Hannson found a website online that generates poems. The website does free form poetry only. So he might be able to cheat on the 6 free choice poems but the website doesn’t create sonnets. Also, they have to write a one page description of what their poetic style is. I think that if Hannson uses the site he will have a hard time doing that one page. I am worried about him though. He never comes to class prepared, his grades aren’t the best, and he doesn’t seem to do any work during class. His mother called Meg. Apparently she is worried as well. Hopefully Hannson gets it together soon and does well on the poetry portfolio.
Meeting
Class: Pre-AP Sophomore English
Free Period
Class: AP Senior English
Lunch
Free Period
Homeroom
The sophomores were not overly impressed when they realized they would be picking new seats every day. However, they handled the change well. We saw presentations and talked about Night. This class always has really good discussions.
The seniors talked about Aurora Leigh and I again got on the case of the students who hadn’t done any of the work. I went over meter with this group of seniors. They were a little overawed with how much work the meter poem was going to be. I told them about the deal. I will be interested to see if any of them take me up on the offer with the sonnet. Shawna might. She seems like she is a pretty good poet and I could see her wanting to stretch herself that little bit to try something new. I am really glad I decided to include the meter poem. Hannson found a website online that generates poems. The website does free form poetry only. So he might be able to cheat on the 6 free choice poems but the website doesn’t create sonnets. Also, they have to write a one page description of what their poetic style is. I think that if Hannson uses the site he will have a hard time doing that one page. I am worried about him though. He never comes to class prepared, his grades aren’t the best, and he doesn’t seem to do any work during class. His mother called Meg. Apparently she is worried as well. Hopefully Hannson gets it together soon and does well on the poetry portfolio.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Day 55: Fixing Problems
Agenda-
Homeroom
Class: Creative Writing
Class: Pre-AP Sophomore English
Class: AP Senior English
Lunch
Study Hall
Creative writing was spent doing more work on our quest stories. Meg and I went around today to see how close everyone was to being done. They are close. Most are just editing. We are going to give them until Thursday to get it posted. Then over break they will have to read an outside book, compare the dialogue in their quest story to the novel they read, read two of the quest stories, and leave comments on the discussion page. Then when we get back we will give each group feedback on the story. The first story they will read will probably be ours since it is 18 pages long. Not sure how it got so long. But that way the class will have time over break to read it. Also, we noticed that the seniors will be graduating soon and I will be leaving soon. There isn’t enough time left between now and the end of the year to write another quest story. It is time to get to the big battle with the big evil villain.
I decided that the sophomores will be picking their seats every day. I want them to sit with someone different every day. After the outburst from Tori on Friday I think it will be good for them to mingle with people they wouldn’t pick to work with. I also decided that I needed to have a conversation with Tori. After everyone was settled in their seats, I took Tori out in the hall and talked to her. I asked her about what happened on Friday and if she was ok. I explained to her that I know she doesn’t usually act like that and that I wanted to make sure she was ok. She told me she just feels very strongly about it. I explained to her that what I was saying wasn’t meant to be a personal attack on her and she said she knew that. I asked if she understood what I was trying to say and she said she did. I told her that we were going to talk in class about propaganda of the time period and how people were labeled and stereotyped. I asked her if she thought she would be ok with that. She said she would be. I’m not sure if my talk with her in the hall accomplished anything. I know it definitely didn’t change her opinion. It also didn’t explain to me why she is so attached to labels and feels so strongly about it. What is the point of labeling people? I decided that she and I were on better terms since talking though and I didn’t want to push the matter any further. So we went back into the classroom, we watched the presentations and then I talked to the class about propaganda. The class was very serious and very quiet as I gave my little lecture that I had given the class before. I hope it makes some difference.
The seniors were awesome as always. We talked about Aurora Leigh and then we talked about meter. They seemed like they were grasping the basic idea. We scanned a few lines together and by the third line scanned they knew which syllables were stressed and which weren’t without my help. I went over what to call each number of feet in a line and what each grouping of stressed and unstressed syllables means. I showed them the rhyme scheme for a sonnet. I made a deal with them. If they write me a sonnet they can use that as both their poem with meter and their poem with a rhyme scheme. But then they need to write an extra free choice poem. I did this because sonnets are hard to write. Some of the students asked if they could work on writing poems once I was done. I let them. Many of them immediately started trying to write a sonnet. Some of them got out other poems and edited those. This class is always very productive when I give them time to work on their poetry portfolio. I really don’t mind letting them work on it at all.
Homeroom
Class: Creative Writing
Class: Pre-AP Sophomore English
Class: AP Senior English
Lunch
Study Hall
Creative writing was spent doing more work on our quest stories. Meg and I went around today to see how close everyone was to being done. They are close. Most are just editing. We are going to give them until Thursday to get it posted. Then over break they will have to read an outside book, compare the dialogue in their quest story to the novel they read, read two of the quest stories, and leave comments on the discussion page. Then when we get back we will give each group feedback on the story. The first story they will read will probably be ours since it is 18 pages long. Not sure how it got so long. But that way the class will have time over break to read it. Also, we noticed that the seniors will be graduating soon and I will be leaving soon. There isn’t enough time left between now and the end of the year to write another quest story. It is time to get to the big battle with the big evil villain.
I decided that the sophomores will be picking their seats every day. I want them to sit with someone different every day. After the outburst from Tori on Friday I think it will be good for them to mingle with people they wouldn’t pick to work with. I also decided that I needed to have a conversation with Tori. After everyone was settled in their seats, I took Tori out in the hall and talked to her. I asked her about what happened on Friday and if she was ok. I explained to her that I know she doesn’t usually act like that and that I wanted to make sure she was ok. She told me she just feels very strongly about it. I explained to her that what I was saying wasn’t meant to be a personal attack on her and she said she knew that. I asked if she understood what I was trying to say and she said she did. I told her that we were going to talk in class about propaganda of the time period and how people were labeled and stereotyped. I asked her if she thought she would be ok with that. She said she would be. I’m not sure if my talk with her in the hall accomplished anything. I know it definitely didn’t change her opinion. It also didn’t explain to me why she is so attached to labels and feels so strongly about it. What is the point of labeling people? I decided that she and I were on better terms since talking though and I didn’t want to push the matter any further. So we went back into the classroom, we watched the presentations and then I talked to the class about propaganda. The class was very serious and very quiet as I gave my little lecture that I had given the class before. I hope it makes some difference.
The seniors were awesome as always. We talked about Aurora Leigh and then we talked about meter. They seemed like they were grasping the basic idea. We scanned a few lines together and by the third line scanned they knew which syllables were stressed and which weren’t without my help. I went over what to call each number of feet in a line and what each grouping of stressed and unstressed syllables means. I showed them the rhyme scheme for a sonnet. I made a deal with them. If they write me a sonnet they can use that as both their poem with meter and their poem with a rhyme scheme. But then they need to write an extra free choice poem. I did this because sonnets are hard to write. Some of the students asked if they could work on writing poems once I was done. I let them. Many of them immediately started trying to write a sonnet. Some of them got out other poems and edited those. This class is always very productive when I give them time to work on their poetry portfolio. I really don’t mind letting them work on it at all.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Day 54: Propoganda
Agenda-
Homeroom
Class: Pre-AP Sophomore English
Free Period
Class: AP Senior English
Lunch
Free Period
I decided that because of the outburst last week I needed to have a conversation with both sophomore classes about the propaganda and anti-Semitism during the time period. I think that maybe if I show them some examples and explain to them why we are reading Night that they will understand me a little better. I did a google search for propaganda and got a ton. So after the students were done giving their presentations I hooked my laptop up to the projector and showed them the many different examples that google pulled up. Then I explained to them that it is important we read Night because we are not exempt from treating people like this. We did the similar things to Native Americans and to Japanese Americans during WWII. I explained that we still see these things all the time. We hear on the news all the time that such and such a kid in such and such a place killed themselves because they were being bullied, or cyber bullied, or picked on for being different. I told them that we are reading Night and learning about the Holocaust because the only way to prevent these things is to learn about them. Ignorance causes fear and fear of what we don’t understand creates hatred. So the only way to keep these things from happening is to educate ourselves. They seemed to understand what I was trying to say. I am hoping that now they will be more interested in the subject.
The seniors and I talked about Aurora Leigh. The same students didn’t have their work again. They seem to be making this a habit. I reminded them that the essential questions I am requiring them to do are due in the poetry portfolio and I will be reading them. They said that they knew that and they planned to do them. There really isn’t anything I can do to force them to do the work except maybe start checking them every day like I do for the sophomores. But it seems to me that the seniors should be able to regulate themselves better than that. After all in college there will be work that professors ask them to do that the professor never checks but it will be on the test. It always comes back to bite you in the end. I explained to them that doing the work when it was due would help them not have as much to do at the end. That does not seem to matter to them. Despite four students not having done the assignment we still had a good discussion. It seems like those students are just really good bs. That will be helpful on the AP exam at least.
Homeroom
Class: Pre-AP Sophomore English
Free Period
Class: AP Senior English
Lunch
Free Period
I decided that because of the outburst last week I needed to have a conversation with both sophomore classes about the propaganda and anti-Semitism during the time period. I think that maybe if I show them some examples and explain to them why we are reading Night that they will understand me a little better. I did a google search for propaganda and got a ton. So after the students were done giving their presentations I hooked my laptop up to the projector and showed them the many different examples that google pulled up. Then I explained to them that it is important we read Night because we are not exempt from treating people like this. We did the similar things to Native Americans and to Japanese Americans during WWII. I explained that we still see these things all the time. We hear on the news all the time that such and such a kid in such and such a place killed themselves because they were being bullied, or cyber bullied, or picked on for being different. I told them that we are reading Night and learning about the Holocaust because the only way to prevent these things is to learn about them. Ignorance causes fear and fear of what we don’t understand creates hatred. So the only way to keep these things from happening is to educate ourselves. They seemed to understand what I was trying to say. I am hoping that now they will be more interested in the subject.
The seniors and I talked about Aurora Leigh. The same students didn’t have their work again. They seem to be making this a habit. I reminded them that the essential questions I am requiring them to do are due in the poetry portfolio and I will be reading them. They said that they knew that and they planned to do them. There really isn’t anything I can do to force them to do the work except maybe start checking them every day like I do for the sophomores. But it seems to me that the seniors should be able to regulate themselves better than that. After all in college there will be work that professors ask them to do that the professor never checks but it will be on the test. It always comes back to bite you in the end. I explained to them that doing the work when it was due would help them not have as much to do at the end. That does not seem to matter to them. Despite four students not having done the assignment we still had a good discussion. It seems like those students are just really good bs. That will be helpful on the AP exam at least.
Friday, April 8, 2011
Day 53: Student Blows Up
Agenda-
Homeroom
Class: Creative Writing
Class: Pre-AP Sophomore English
Class: AP Senior English
Lunch
Study Hall
Creative Writing went well as always. I asked them today to think about a date system of some kind as some of the students had already included dates in their biographies and stories. We decided that we are currently in the year 1000, that there are 10 months in every year, they are 6 weeks in each month, 10 days in each week, 25 hours in a day, 60 minutes in an hour, and 60 seconds in a minute. Everyone threw out ideas and then we voted on them. We decided to let people name the months regionally but that they would be known all over our world as 1st Moon, 2nd Moon and so on. The students then worked on their quest stories some more. There were a few that seemed like they had quite a bit more to do and then there were some that were like us and were almost done. We decided that we could afford to give a little extra time to finish them up and for editing before break.
The sophomores were not happy with the seating arrangements. They were rather upset that I decided they couldn’t handle sitting where ever they wanted to. I explained to them that there was a little too much chit chat for me when they picked their seats and that I wanted to see them working with different people. We talked about the book and then I handed out their Holocaust Victim Cards. Once I had handed them out the students got out work to do either on their presentations, on their scrapbooks or on their reflections over their cards. The 4 boys asked if they could go out in the hall to work and I said yes. The complaint about the seats came up again and I explained again why they weren’t allowed to pick their own seats. Tori spoke up and said that the boys weren’t working right then and that they were probably just playing games on their computers. She said that they were just jocks. I told her that we shouldn’t label people because of we label people then we run the risk of treating them differently and then we risk treating them badly. She responded with how she labels herself all the time. I then asked the class how the Holocaust got started and explained that there was a lot of propaganda during that time period against Jews and it was the stereotypes and labeling that eventually led up to the persecution of the Jews. It was at this point that Tori started yelling about how she was a teenage girl in high school and that she labeled people and that maybe she would regret it later on in life but for now that was what she was going to do. She said her family does it and so she was going to do it too. I didn’t know how to respond to this so I said nothing at all. All I could think is that this girl clearly thought that I was trying to attack her in some way. And I was suddenly very disappointed in her. She is one of my students with a 4 in the class. I thought, such a bright girl and she can’t even see beyond herself for 1 minute. I thought “No wonder this class is so obsessed with seating.” They can’t stand to be near each other. I knew this student has an attitude but I has always thought that attitude was towards stupid people. I didn’t think that her definition of stupid people might be different from my own. I couldn’t come up with anything to say to her or a way to react. I just let it go. I think I just need to regroup and maybe rethink this unit. They obviously don’t understand why we are reading Night.
The seniors were much better. I did the same activity with them that I did yesterday. It always amazes me which students sort of open up and respond to you when they realize that you understand them. Makenzie really enjoyed my poem that I read. She really wanted me to read her poetry after I had read mine. She talked to me about how she wants to be a human rights activist and she talked about how she really found getting inside people’s heads. Her poem that I edited for her today was really very good. I only had one suggestion for her and it was really just changing one word. I recommended to her that she read Maxine Kumin since she seems to interested in the human rights, politics, and people. Maxine Kumin is the kind of poet who really makes these issues stand out. Maybe I will read one of her poems in class someday. It was nice to have the seniors after the fiasco with the sophomores. The seniors suddenly seem so much more mature. They were a little bit more talkative today and again I saw a lot more students wanting to share their poems with me. I’m glad I read them one of mine.
Homeroom
Class: Creative Writing
Class: Pre-AP Sophomore English
Class: AP Senior English
Lunch
Study Hall
Creative Writing went well as always. I asked them today to think about a date system of some kind as some of the students had already included dates in their biographies and stories. We decided that we are currently in the year 1000, that there are 10 months in every year, they are 6 weeks in each month, 10 days in each week, 25 hours in a day, 60 minutes in an hour, and 60 seconds in a minute. Everyone threw out ideas and then we voted on them. We decided to let people name the months regionally but that they would be known all over our world as 1st Moon, 2nd Moon and so on. The students then worked on their quest stories some more. There were a few that seemed like they had quite a bit more to do and then there were some that were like us and were almost done. We decided that we could afford to give a little extra time to finish them up and for editing before break.
The sophomores were not happy with the seating arrangements. They were rather upset that I decided they couldn’t handle sitting where ever they wanted to. I explained to them that there was a little too much chit chat for me when they picked their seats and that I wanted to see them working with different people. We talked about the book and then I handed out their Holocaust Victim Cards. Once I had handed them out the students got out work to do either on their presentations, on their scrapbooks or on their reflections over their cards. The 4 boys asked if they could go out in the hall to work and I said yes. The complaint about the seats came up again and I explained again why they weren’t allowed to pick their own seats. Tori spoke up and said that the boys weren’t working right then and that they were probably just playing games on their computers. She said that they were just jocks. I told her that we shouldn’t label people because of we label people then we run the risk of treating them differently and then we risk treating them badly. She responded with how she labels herself all the time. I then asked the class how the Holocaust got started and explained that there was a lot of propaganda during that time period against Jews and it was the stereotypes and labeling that eventually led up to the persecution of the Jews. It was at this point that Tori started yelling about how she was a teenage girl in high school and that she labeled people and that maybe she would regret it later on in life but for now that was what she was going to do. She said her family does it and so she was going to do it too. I didn’t know how to respond to this so I said nothing at all. All I could think is that this girl clearly thought that I was trying to attack her in some way. And I was suddenly very disappointed in her. She is one of my students with a 4 in the class. I thought, such a bright girl and she can’t even see beyond herself for 1 minute. I thought “No wonder this class is so obsessed with seating.” They can’t stand to be near each other. I knew this student has an attitude but I has always thought that attitude was towards stupid people. I didn’t think that her definition of stupid people might be different from my own. I couldn’t come up with anything to say to her or a way to react. I just let it go. I think I just need to regroup and maybe rethink this unit. They obviously don’t understand why we are reading Night.
The seniors were much better. I did the same activity with them that I did yesterday. It always amazes me which students sort of open up and respond to you when they realize that you understand them. Makenzie really enjoyed my poem that I read. She really wanted me to read her poetry after I had read mine. She talked to me about how she wants to be a human rights activist and she talked about how she really found getting inside people’s heads. Her poem that I edited for her today was really very good. I only had one suggestion for her and it was really just changing one word. I recommended to her that she read Maxine Kumin since she seems to interested in the human rights, politics, and people. Maxine Kumin is the kind of poet who really makes these issues stand out. Maybe I will read one of her poems in class someday. It was nice to have the seniors after the fiasco with the sophomores. The seniors suddenly seem so much more mature. They were a little bit more talkative today and again I saw a lot more students wanting to share their poems with me. I’m glad I read them one of mine.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Day 52: Editing Poetry
Agenda-
Homeroom
Class: Pre-AP Sophomore English
Free Period
Class: AP Senior English
Lunch
Free Period
I decided today that I am going to try assigning seats randomly. I am going to have them draw from the coffee can of doom. It seems like a fair way to do it plus it will mix them up nicely. I tried it first with the A day kids because they tend to respond to change better than the B day kids. It seemed like it went ok. I got to see some students interact who I hadn’t seen work together before. They were well behaved too. It was a good class overall. They seem to be having good discussion now that I am giving them topics to discuss in their groups first and then share with the class. I gave out their next Holocaust Victim Cards today and I found out that some of the students had gone and looked up their victims. I was a little disappointed that they had ruined the surprise. On the other hand though, I had been worried that they weren’t into the cards. It was good to see that they were so curious. I decided to have them research their victim and include that in their Scrapbooks since they ruined the surprise. They took the initiative so they should be willing to do the work. They didn’t seem to mind the extra work.
The seniors were their usual selves. The same students again didn’t have their homework done. I asked them why hadn’t done it. They said that the questions on top of the reading was just too much. Mmmm, I’m not buying that. It isn’t that hard to write down a passage as you read and then write a page after you finish reading. We talked today about how to edit a poem. I read them a first draft of one of my poems and then I read them the finished version. We discussed that when you edit poetry you are really looking for a way to make it better. How can you show somebody something rather than just tell them. After I shared my poem some of the students were asking about things in the poem. They wanted to know if it was true. Heidi said that she understood now why I liked Aurora Leigh, because it was the story of a struggling artist. I then set them loose to edit their poems. They were much more willing to let me take a look at their own work now that I had shared mine. I’m hoping that means they felt more comfortable with me. Next, week we are going to talk about meter. I think it is time that they learned a little bit about the more technical aspects of poetry.
Homeroom
Class: Pre-AP Sophomore English
Free Period
Class: AP Senior English
Lunch
Free Period
I decided today that I am going to try assigning seats randomly. I am going to have them draw from the coffee can of doom. It seems like a fair way to do it plus it will mix them up nicely. I tried it first with the A day kids because they tend to respond to change better than the B day kids. It seemed like it went ok. I got to see some students interact who I hadn’t seen work together before. They were well behaved too. It was a good class overall. They seem to be having good discussion now that I am giving them topics to discuss in their groups first and then share with the class. I gave out their next Holocaust Victim Cards today and I found out that some of the students had gone and looked up their victims. I was a little disappointed that they had ruined the surprise. On the other hand though, I had been worried that they weren’t into the cards. It was good to see that they were so curious. I decided to have them research their victim and include that in their Scrapbooks since they ruined the surprise. They took the initiative so they should be willing to do the work. They didn’t seem to mind the extra work.
The seniors were their usual selves. The same students again didn’t have their homework done. I asked them why hadn’t done it. They said that the questions on top of the reading was just too much. Mmmm, I’m not buying that. It isn’t that hard to write down a passage as you read and then write a page after you finish reading. We talked today about how to edit a poem. I read them a first draft of one of my poems and then I read them the finished version. We discussed that when you edit poetry you are really looking for a way to make it better. How can you show somebody something rather than just tell them. After I shared my poem some of the students were asking about things in the poem. They wanted to know if it was true. Heidi said that she understood now why I liked Aurora Leigh, because it was the story of a struggling artist. I then set them loose to edit their poems. They were much more willing to let me take a look at their own work now that I had shared mine. I’m hoping that means they felt more comfortable with me. Next, week we are going to talk about meter. I think it is time that they learned a little bit about the more technical aspects of poetry.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Day 51: Still Messing With Seats
Agenda-
Presentations on Color Theory and Visual Literacy
Class: Creative Writing
Class: Pre-AP Sophomore English
Class: AP Senior English
Lunch
Study Hall
Homeroom
Creative writing was good. Loryn came over and said that her group member wasn’t doing anything. I am not sure how that works. They both come to class every day. They both get out their laptops. What are they doing if not working on their story? All the other students are working. I hear them working all the time. I guess we need to talk to both girls and see what is going on there. Meg, Mariah, and I have finished writing our story and we started editing today. We have a lot of editing to do. Then after we polish it up we should be all done. Next, we are going to have the class read each quest story one at a time and leave comments in the discussion tab. Then in class we will discuss the story together. We are hoping to help them practice some good editing skills. Then probably give them a day to edit anything and then change their groups up again. I will be sad to see our group dissolve but I wouldn’t mind working with most of the students in that class. So it might be fun to work with someone else.
The sophomores got to try sitting wherever they wanted to sit today. I told them they could sit anywhere they wanted to but the desks had to stay where they were. The 4 boys, Sean, Jake, Adam, and Ryan whined at first because it meant one of them had to go elsewhere. But once they saw I wasn’t backing down, Ryan went and sat with a couple girls and the 3 boys were fairly well behaved. I was actually happier with their behavior than with the group of all girls. Tori sat in a single desk I was going to use for myself behind a group of three desk and thus the 4 girls ended up sitting together. The group as a whole was pretty well behaved. However, there was a lot of chit chat and even more off topic conversations than usual. I ended up moving Garrett because he was sitting alone. I liked having him with Jeremie and Arseniy. I think what I am going to do is have them in different groups every day. I want to have them work with different people. I will just have them draw from the coffee can of doom every day and like colors will sit together. This will keep things interesting. Plus sometimes they will get to sit with friends and sometimes they won’t. They will learn how to work with everyone in the class.
This group of seniors is still hard. It is hard to get them to open their mouths and speak up. I need to do something about it! I ask them a question and wait for an answer but all I get is whispers or nothing at all. I don’t understand. It isn’t like I ever tell them they are wrong. I never ridicule them. In fact even when they are way off base with their passage choices I work to try and make it work. They are also always on the fence. Every time I try to get them to take a side on something they sit right in the middle. They seem afraid to have an opinion. And even when they do they are easily swayed. For their next question I am having them look at textual evidence and pick a side to argue from. They pick a character and then decide if that character is flat or round. I am hoping that they will at least pick different characters even if they don’t pick different sides. The question after that requires them to compare their poetry to that of Aurora’s. I am hoping this will help them connect a little with the book. They at least always have their work done.
Presentations on Color Theory and Visual Literacy
Class: Creative Writing
Class: Pre-AP Sophomore English
Class: AP Senior English
Lunch
Study Hall
Homeroom
Creative writing was good. Loryn came over and said that her group member wasn’t doing anything. I am not sure how that works. They both come to class every day. They both get out their laptops. What are they doing if not working on their story? All the other students are working. I hear them working all the time. I guess we need to talk to both girls and see what is going on there. Meg, Mariah, and I have finished writing our story and we started editing today. We have a lot of editing to do. Then after we polish it up we should be all done. Next, we are going to have the class read each quest story one at a time and leave comments in the discussion tab. Then in class we will discuss the story together. We are hoping to help them practice some good editing skills. Then probably give them a day to edit anything and then change their groups up again. I will be sad to see our group dissolve but I wouldn’t mind working with most of the students in that class. So it might be fun to work with someone else.
The sophomores got to try sitting wherever they wanted to sit today. I told them they could sit anywhere they wanted to but the desks had to stay where they were. The 4 boys, Sean, Jake, Adam, and Ryan whined at first because it meant one of them had to go elsewhere. But once they saw I wasn’t backing down, Ryan went and sat with a couple girls and the 3 boys were fairly well behaved. I was actually happier with their behavior than with the group of all girls. Tori sat in a single desk I was going to use for myself behind a group of three desk and thus the 4 girls ended up sitting together. The group as a whole was pretty well behaved. However, there was a lot of chit chat and even more off topic conversations than usual. I ended up moving Garrett because he was sitting alone. I liked having him with Jeremie and Arseniy. I think what I am going to do is have them in different groups every day. I want to have them work with different people. I will just have them draw from the coffee can of doom every day and like colors will sit together. This will keep things interesting. Plus sometimes they will get to sit with friends and sometimes they won’t. They will learn how to work with everyone in the class.
This group of seniors is still hard. It is hard to get them to open their mouths and speak up. I need to do something about it! I ask them a question and wait for an answer but all I get is whispers or nothing at all. I don’t understand. It isn’t like I ever tell them they are wrong. I never ridicule them. In fact even when they are way off base with their passage choices I work to try and make it work. They are also always on the fence. Every time I try to get them to take a side on something they sit right in the middle. They seem afraid to have an opinion. And even when they do they are easily swayed. For their next question I am having them look at textual evidence and pick a side to argue from. They pick a character and then decide if that character is flat or round. I am hoping that they will at least pick different characters even if they don’t pick different sides. The question after that requires them to compare their poetry to that of Aurora’s. I am hoping this will help them connect a little with the book. They at least always have their work done.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Day 50: OK
Agenda-
Homeroom
Class: Pre-AP Sophomore English
Free Period (Worked on TWS)
Class: AP Senior English
Lunch
Seminar
The sophomores were pretty good about their discussions. There were a few students who didn’t have their homework done but they were still able to participate because I had them working in discussion groups. I think that the class does better as a whole when they talk in groups before talking in front of the class. I am wondering if maybe I should be timing their group discussions in order to eliminate some of the side conversations. I know that they pick passages to talk about with the class and then turn their attention to their friends to talk about things not related to the book. I am walking around trying to assess how each group is doing and they are not on task. The timer might give the process a little urgency. I also noticed that they stop talking when I stand near their groups. I am trying to listen in to their conversations but they stop talking. May be I should take myself out of the conversation completely. I wonder if they have the maturity and skills to do carry on a discussion by themselves. I wonder if I could steal a page from Dr. Grace’s book and just say “get in a circle, now talk, I’m just going to listen.” It just seems to me like the discussions function very much as they speak, I speak then they speak again. I would like to hear more of them and less of me.
The seniors are interesting. Sometimes they get a good discussion going between themselves and sometimes their discussions are like the sophomores. They speak, I speak and then they speak again. I do really like the questions that I am giving them over their reading. I am disappointed that some of the students didn’t do it. However, it isn’t due till they turn in the poetry portfolio and the students who didn’t have it done still managed to contribute to the discussion. At least they were honest in saying they didn’t do the work. I don’t think I am going to do anything about the fact they didn’t do the work. The only person they are hurting is themselves. In the end that just means they will have more work to do for the final project than everyone else. They also won’t be getting practice for the AP exam. I think I need to point that out to them though. Megan asked me today if they would be getting any practice for the exam. And I told her we were. She expressed concern that about the fact that they had done a lot of poetry and not a lot of test prep. I told her there would be a lot of poetry on the test and that unlike their last AP test, this one was much more about can you analyze something. I think I need to explain to them that the questions I am giving them over their reading is a practice for the test in some ways. I also need to talk about editing poetry. Justin asked how you edit poetry since it is feelings. I think I am going to take one of my poems I have edited in to show them an example. Then next week we are going to talk about meter because Hannah and Lauren were asking about that. I always feel like there are a million things I want to do and about 5 minutes to do them all.
Homeroom
Class: Pre-AP Sophomore English
Free Period (Worked on TWS)
Class: AP Senior English
Lunch
Seminar
The sophomores were pretty good about their discussions. There were a few students who didn’t have their homework done but they were still able to participate because I had them working in discussion groups. I think that the class does better as a whole when they talk in groups before talking in front of the class. I am wondering if maybe I should be timing their group discussions in order to eliminate some of the side conversations. I know that they pick passages to talk about with the class and then turn their attention to their friends to talk about things not related to the book. I am walking around trying to assess how each group is doing and they are not on task. The timer might give the process a little urgency. I also noticed that they stop talking when I stand near their groups. I am trying to listen in to their conversations but they stop talking. May be I should take myself out of the conversation completely. I wonder if they have the maturity and skills to do carry on a discussion by themselves. I wonder if I could steal a page from Dr. Grace’s book and just say “get in a circle, now talk, I’m just going to listen.” It just seems to me like the discussions function very much as they speak, I speak then they speak again. I would like to hear more of them and less of me.
The seniors are interesting. Sometimes they get a good discussion going between themselves and sometimes their discussions are like the sophomores. They speak, I speak and then they speak again. I do really like the questions that I am giving them over their reading. I am disappointed that some of the students didn’t do it. However, it isn’t due till they turn in the poetry portfolio and the students who didn’t have it done still managed to contribute to the discussion. At least they were honest in saying they didn’t do the work. I don’t think I am going to do anything about the fact they didn’t do the work. The only person they are hurting is themselves. In the end that just means they will have more work to do for the final project than everyone else. They also won’t be getting practice for the AP exam. I think I need to point that out to them though. Megan asked me today if they would be getting any practice for the exam. And I told her we were. She expressed concern that about the fact that they had done a lot of poetry and not a lot of test prep. I told her there would be a lot of poetry on the test and that unlike their last AP test, this one was much more about can you analyze something. I think I need to explain to them that the questions I am giving them over their reading is a practice for the test in some ways. I also need to talk about editing poetry. Justin asked how you edit poetry since it is feelings. I think I am going to take one of my poems I have edited in to show them an example. Then next week we are going to talk about meter because Hannah and Lauren were asking about that. I always feel like there are a million things I want to do and about 5 minutes to do them all.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Day 49: Better Discussions
Agenda-
Homeroom
Class: Creative Writing
Class: Pre-AP Sophomore English
Class: AP Senior English
Lunch
Study Hall
Today went much better than Thursday did. In creative writing, Mariah was absent so Meg and I decided to poison her character since she wasn’t there to write as him. Then while he was passed out from the poison we finished writing the story. I think it came out really well. However, it is very long. We are going to have the students read each other’s stories next and give suggestions for how the story could be improved. This means that ours may be a little long for that task. We are going to edit on Wednesday. Hopefully, we can find some ways to shorten the story without getting rid of the pieces that we really like. I have had a lot of fun writing it so I know it will be hard to go back through and get rid of things.
The sophomore class went better today too. I had them all sitting in groups today instead of in a circle like they were before. I also gave them a topic to think about in relation to their passages I was able to hear them talk more about the writing. However, I would still like to hear more disagreements and decision making going on. A few of the groups didn’t discuss passages but rather just picked one. It probably didn’t help that there were a couple students who didn’t do the assignment. One thing I liked was that they had so many questions about Hitler, the Holocaust and World War II. I think I need to brush up even more on my history. I also think I need to find a way to answer all of these questions. They clearly want to know more. I thought the presentations would be a good way to do that but maybe they need more. There is just so much stuff that goes along with this time period. It is hard to address all of their questions. I wish that I could team teach Night with a history teacher who was teaching WW II at the same time. It would make things easier.
The seniors did much better with their passages in Aurora Leigh. They picked more suitable ones. They said that this question was easier. That really confused me because I thought the first one was easier. I guess not. I told them that if they had any problems picking a passage for the next one they should email me and I would help them. I hope they take me up on the offer. I noticed that this class is still very hesitant to speak up and assert an opinion. They seem to want to not answer any of my questions. I’m not sure if they are afraid to be wrong or if they don’t understand. I really need to figure this out. I was trying to get a good discussion going about the main character’s feelings towards another character and at first they didn’t want to pick a side. It took me forever to get them thinking about how to read the evidence in front of them and to argue with each other a little. I think that the question for the 4th chapter will require them to pick a side of an argument and use textual evidence to prove they are right. I think this will be good practice for them.
Homeroom
Class: Creative Writing
Class: Pre-AP Sophomore English
Class: AP Senior English
Lunch
Study Hall
Today went much better than Thursday did. In creative writing, Mariah was absent so Meg and I decided to poison her character since she wasn’t there to write as him. Then while he was passed out from the poison we finished writing the story. I think it came out really well. However, it is very long. We are going to have the students read each other’s stories next and give suggestions for how the story could be improved. This means that ours may be a little long for that task. We are going to edit on Wednesday. Hopefully, we can find some ways to shorten the story without getting rid of the pieces that we really like. I have had a lot of fun writing it so I know it will be hard to go back through and get rid of things.
The sophomore class went better today too. I had them all sitting in groups today instead of in a circle like they were before. I also gave them a topic to think about in relation to their passages I was able to hear them talk more about the writing. However, I would still like to hear more disagreements and decision making going on. A few of the groups didn’t discuss passages but rather just picked one. It probably didn’t help that there were a couple students who didn’t do the assignment. One thing I liked was that they had so many questions about Hitler, the Holocaust and World War II. I think I need to brush up even more on my history. I also think I need to find a way to answer all of these questions. They clearly want to know more. I thought the presentations would be a good way to do that but maybe they need more. There is just so much stuff that goes along with this time period. It is hard to address all of their questions. I wish that I could team teach Night with a history teacher who was teaching WW II at the same time. It would make things easier.
The seniors did much better with their passages in Aurora Leigh. They picked more suitable ones. They said that this question was easier. That really confused me because I thought the first one was easier. I guess not. I told them that if they had any problems picking a passage for the next one they should email me and I would help them. I hope they take me up on the offer. I noticed that this class is still very hesitant to speak up and assert an opinion. They seem to want to not answer any of my questions. I’m not sure if they are afraid to be wrong or if they don’t understand. I really need to figure this out. I was trying to get a good discussion going about the main character’s feelings towards another character and at first they didn’t want to pick a side. It took me forever to get them thinking about how to read the evidence in front of them and to argue with each other a little. I think that the question for the 4th chapter will require them to pick a side of an argument and use textual evidence to prove they are right. I think this will be good practice for them.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Day 48: April Fools Snow Day
SNOW DAY!!!!
I woke up around 9. Then fell back to sleep around 11 until 3. I then got up, showered, dressed and ate. Then I watched The 10th Kingdom and worked on my Teacher Work Sample. All in all it was a good day.
I woke up around 9. Then fell back to sleep around 11 until 3. I then got up, showered, dressed and ate. Then I watched The 10th Kingdom and worked on my Teacher Work Sample. All in all it was a good day.
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